Britain’s negotiating team in Brussels has been in the spotlight this week following the surprise resignation of EU ambassador Ivan Rogers. But what of the other side of the table?

The European Commission’s chief Brexit negotiator Michel Barnier has assembled a team of roughly 30 staffers to coordinate the EU’s position. This task force is likely to double in size at the very least in the first few months of formal negotiations.

The EU’s battle plan, agreed at the last European summit, largely left the politics to presidents and prime ministers and focused on technicalities. But Barnier’s appointments suggest he wants his staffers to have strong political instincts as well.

As you might expect, the French veteran has filled his ranks with several former aides and officials from his previous jobs. With at least five French staffers in the negotiating team — the deputy diplomatic adviser is a top young French civil servant, Tristan Aureau — it’s fair to assume French will be frequently heard in the corridors of the fifth floor of the Berlaymont, where the team is headquartered, to the dismay, no doubt, of British tabloids.

François Arbault, a cabinet member when Barnier was European commissioner for the internal market and financial services, was one of the first to join the team, as was Stefaan de Rynck, a financial services expert who will handle the task force’s relations with national parliaments and think-tanks.

Michel Barnier, speaks during a press conference at the EU Commission in Brussels | Stephanie Lecocq/EPA

Isabelle Misrachi, in charge of events, has worked for Barnier twice, both when he was a commissioner and when he was French minister for agriculture and fisheries.

Georg Emil Riekeles, another former staffer, was appointed adviser for diplomatic and inter-institutional affairs. He is also one of the few Norwegians in the Commission, which could be useful if Norway is considered a model for Britain’s future relationship with the EU.

Barnier has also pulled in plenty of trade expertise. Sabine Weyand, a German and former deputy director-general in the trade department, was appointed deputy chief Brexit negotiator in September. She will be assisted by Justyna Lasik, a Polish national and former policy coordinator in the same directorate-general.

In case discussions turn to the Swiss relationship with the EU, Nina Obermaier, another German, comes from the EU diplomatic service, where she handled EU-Swiss negotiations after the 2014 Swiss referendum on curtailing EU free movement.

The team also comprises several staffers experienced in large EU negotiations, in particular those who have worked on banking reforms, the EU budget, state aid and agricultural policy.

In a signal that Britain’s contributions to the EU budget are expected to be on the table, Stéphanie Riso joins the team from the directorate-general for budget. And Balázs Bence Tóth, a Hungarian economist, came onboard after a stint managing agricultural subsidies. It is also likely that the EU's post-Brexit budget will need to be negotiated simultaneously, something Barnier appears to have anticipated.

Other appointments include Nicola Pesaresi, a former lawyer in the competition department specialized on state aid, Dutch national Ward Möhlmann for financial services, Marie Simonsen from Denmark who came from the directorate-general for employment, and the Italian economist Marco Abate and Eugenia Dumitriu-Segnana, who arrived from the Council of Ministers' legal service.

It is clear Barnier is intent on preserving unity among the remaining EU 27 countries.

Finally, in a nod to particular concern about the status of Northern Ireland, with its economic links to the Republic of Ireland and its reliance on substantial EU funding, Barnier has brought in Tadhg O'Briain, a former economist in the Northern Irish government.

The task force alone won’t be enough to cope with the technical challenge Brexit poses. Barnier also chairs regular meetings with all the Commission’s director-generals and each department is drafting initial assessments of how Brexit will affect their policies.

Notably, none of the team has experience with the British government, in part to avoid conflicts of interest. But it is clear Barnier is intent on preserving unity among the remaining EU 27 countries.

This insight is from POLITICO’s Brexit Files newsletter, a daily afternoon digest of the best coverage and analysis of Britain’s decision to leave the EU. Read today’s edition or subscribe here.